The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Maranta plant, botanically known as Maranta leuconeura, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Beauty Kim.
The new Maranta was discovered by the Inventor in a controlled environment in San Jose Penula, Guatemala, in Spring, 1997, as a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Maranta leuconeura var. Kerchoviana, not patented. The new Maranta was observed as a single plant in a group of plants of the var. Kerchoviana.
Asexual propagation of the new Maranta by vegetative cuttings and by tissue-culture in Apopka, Fla. has shown that the unique features of this new Maranta are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The new Maranta has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.